


Caramel Frappe With Extra Extra Caramel

by Vampurr



Category: Apex Legends (Video Games)
Genre: DarkSparks, F/F, alternative universe, coffee shop AU, no beta reading we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:35:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27597614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vampurr/pseuds/Vampurr
Summary: Renee almost hated her job. Almost.The one reason she didn’t had a face and name.OrDarksparks coffee shop AU. I noticed that this pairing didn't have a coffee shop AU written for it yet, so I took it upon myself to write one
Relationships: Wattson | Natalie Paquette/Wraith | Renee Blasey
Comments: 3
Kudos: 69





	Caramel Frappe With Extra Extra Caramel

Renee almost hated her job. Almost. There, she said it. She was finally honest with herself with that already known revelation: she was pretty certain she hated her job as a barista at The Apex Cup. 

She couldn’t stand the people with their intricate orders, always asking about secret menu this and secret menu that. Why not just drink it black and leave out the unnecessary parts? It’s what she did, and she knew for a fact that was the way to do it. 

Though... Maybe it didn’t help she wasn’t all that fond of people anyway. 

Alas, she had to play nice. She’d take up the orders with a well worn smile, then give them a half genuine “Would you like anything else with that?” and get to work on the growing number of orders. 

That’s another thing she hated: they were always swamped, especially in the mornings as it seemed like all the sleep deprived people in the city just had to drink there. Sometimes she just wanted to scream to them that their coffee wasn’t that good, but... that’d be a lie. Their coffee was pretty damn good, and that wasn’t something she wanted to admit to the troves of people either.

Not to mention, they are always understaffed. Especially during rush hours and especially during the mornings. It didn’t help either that she always seemed to be paired up with Elliot. While she liked her coworker well enough, the man was always late and honestly spent more time flirting with men waiting for their coffee than actually making it. 

But it’s fine. It’s whatever. It gives Renee something to do, and it pays her bills and keeps her german shepherd fed. She’s efficient enough to get some tips, and they’ve kept her along for this long so she’s got to be doing something right. 

And... like Renee said. She almost hated being a barista. Almost. 

The reason Renee didn’t fully hate it had a name and face, but the barista just hadn’t been able to get a number. 

The reason why always came in at six thirty on the dot, and she always ordered the same thing each time. A caramel frappe with extra extra caramel and a blueberry scone. Natalie was the name to be written on the cup, and that was all Renee knew about the blonde beauty that always gave her the sweetest smile and nicest tip. 

“Seriously, Renee! Just talk to her!” Elliot bombarded the raven haired girl for the tenth time today. It was nearing six thirty, and it was only going to get worse from here on out. “I can just tell that she’s totally into you! She doesn’t smile at me when I take her order!” 

“Yes, she does smile at you. You just aren’t paying attention because you’re ogling whatever guy is behind her!” Renee hissed, giving him a frown. She drew back to the other side of the kitchen, beginning work on an order- this time around, a latte.“Besides, do you know how weird that’d be? Just walking up to her and saying ‘Hi! I’m Renee, and you are so pretty and I want to know more than just your order?’” 

“Well when you put it like that, then yeah, of course you sound stupid!” Elliot bantered back before turning on a dime to help another customer. His voice quickly lifted almost another octave, and he quickly asked in the nicest tone, “Hi, welcome to The Apex Cup! What can I get you today?” 

Renee huffed and continued on making the latte. It was all stupid, her falling for someone she hadn’t even talked to and holding out hope for this long. The barista just knew better; the mysterious blonde was just another regular and just probably a nice person... who had a bright smile like that of a star and blue eyes the color of the sky. Renee’s cheeks were already growing warm just at the thought of the customer. 

“Six thirty is falling upon us,” Elliot’s teasing voice broke into her thoughts. “Renee, can you go grab some of the clean coffee mugs in the back? Don’t worry, I won’t take your girl’s order.” 

“She isn’t my girl, Elliot!” She grumbled as she began to walk towards the door in the kitchen. “She’s a perfectly independent woman who probably hasn’t even really batted an eye at me!” 

Again, Renee almost hated this job. Almost. 

Renee managed to get the crate of mugs out from the back. They had all just been cleaned and were waiting for their next use. They were all mix matched, everything from simple colored ones to ones promoting long gone businesses or silly little puns sprawled on the side. Unfortunately, they were heavier than they looked too.

Renee proceeded to walk back to the kitchen but was stopped as soon as she stepped in. The blonde girl was there standing in the coffee shops doorway, and just in that moment, both of their eyes met. A blush quickly went to paint Renee’s cheeks, and she could hear her heart beat beginning to quicken. 

“Hi, Renee!” the girl called, giving the barista a little wave. There was a hint of excitement in her voice, and it only made Renee’s heart pound louder. 

Oh. 

Oh! 

She knew her name! Natalie knew Renee’s name! 

And that is when the plastic crate of mugs in Renee’s hands slipped out of her hands onto the floor with a loud smash. 

In that moment, Renee didn’t know if she loved or hated her job after all. 

“Shit!” Renee exclaimed, only gaining more looks from other customers in the store. She quickly ducked down to begin picking up the pieces of broken mugs. She couldn’t believe she had just dropped all of those mugs all over a girl saying hello to her and remembering her name. Now her cheeks were hot with embarrassment. 

“Oh, let me help!” a sweet voice chimed in only a few seconds later. While Renee expected it to be Elliot jumping down to help her (or did she really? it was Elliot after all), the barista looked up and saw that the blonde had jumped down to help her clean up. 

“Uh, you don’t have to do that, m’am! Really, I don’t want you to get cut or anything.” Renee replied back, now trying to pick up the pieces before the blonde could. 

“It’s fine really, I don’t mind to help- ouch!” 

Luck must not of been on Renee’s side because as soon as she said that, Natalie drew her hand back from the mess with a long cut along the side of her hand. A little bit of blood started to seep out of the wound, but the blonde didn’t make much effort to finish helping Renee. 

“Oh god,” Renee quickly muttered under her breath. “You just got cut!” She stopped gathering up the pieces and instinctively reached for Natalie’s hand. “I’m so sorry about this. Uh...” She thought for a moment, wondering what to do. All the while she kept holding Natalie’s hand despite the blood that was beginning to drip onto her own hand. 

“There’s a first aid kit somewhere in the back. Will you follow me back there?” She said, looking towards the door she just walked out of. “And Elliot, will you...?” She looked over to her coworker, and immediately a glare formed on her face. The man was making faces at her, and he frantically kept pointing to his hand. “Elliot, will you come and clean this up for me while I help her?” 

“Sure sure, go help the lucky lady!” Elliot replied, flashing a smile towards the raven haired girl. Renee glare only shot daggers, though she could have sworn she heard Natalie softly giggle. 

Renee and Natalie made it to the back, and Renee promptly instructed the blonde to sit down on one of the cardboard boxes. She began to shift through the countless supplies and boxes on the shelves, looking for the familiar red plastic of the first aid kit. 

“So... do you come here often?” 

“What?” Renee said abruptly, glancing back to the blonde. Then it dawned upon her. “Yeah, yeah... all the time. It’s my preferred stomping ground. You?” It looked like there was no chance that Renee couldn’t continue to embarrass herself in front of Natalie, no matter how hard she tried. 

The blonde giggled in response. “Sure, sure. I have to admit, this is my first time here,” she replied. Another smile graced Natalie’s face now. It was like the blonde could never stop smiling, but it wasn’t like Renee was complaining either. “Though, really. I am sorry about this. I didn’t mean to make a fuss, but.. I happen to be the clumsiest person here, it seems,” she continued. She started to gesture with her hand as she spoke, almost as if she was nervous, but promptly stopped to keep her hand from bleeding more. 

Somehow, Renee found the blonde’s admittance of her own clumsiness to be endearing. “Good thing I’m here to help out then, yeah?” Renee said back, looking back to the woman with a hopeful look for a few seconds. She then returned her gaze back to the task at hand. 

After moving a few boxes out of the way, Renee finally found the first aid kit.

“It’s like nothing is organized here,” she said to the other woman. “Everything is about as mismatched as our mugs- Ah! Here we go!” Renee finally found the gauze and medical tape in the first aid kit. She then turned on her heels and bent down, now taking Wattson’s hand once more. A faint blush began to creep onto her face. 

The two fell to silence as Renee continued to try to put the gauze in place. “And I’m sorry about how slow I’m being, my hands are usually not this shaky,” Renee mumbled with a nervous chuckle. She continued to try to wrap the gaze efficiently around the other’s hand. “You’re just... really pretty.” 

Yes, Natalie was very pretty. That was definitely true- 

Wait. 

Did Renee just say that out loud?

Another giggle came from the blonde. “You think I’m pretty?” She questioned, now intrigued. 

Renee was quiet for a moment. She was sure her cheeks were bright red now. What could she say now to save herself from further embarrassment?

“Yes... yes, I do?” The barista hesitantly spoke up again. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say that out loud, but you’re definitely.. really pretty.” 

“Well, thank you,” Natalie replied back. Her cheeks seemed to be growing red now too. “And you’re... you’re really pretty too, you know.” 

The two fell silent again. Tension was slowly building in the room, and neither of them could really ignore it. Renee was finally able to get the gauze wrapped around her hand. Really, the cut wouldn’t need the gauze for long; a bandaid would do the trick in a day or two. Though wrapping gauze around the blonde’s hand meant Renee got to hold her hand, so there was a perk to it.

“Sorry, I just don’t think a bandaid will cut it,” Renee said while slowly wrapping the gauze around the blonde’s hand. She had to break the silence; it was becoming suffocating. 

“That’s okay,” Natalie replied. “Just sucks a little. I use my hands a lot for my work, so I guess I’ll be out of commission for a while.” 

“What do you do?” Renee asked. Talking seemed to make this much less awkward, and she couldn’t help but admit that she wanted to know about Natalie. She’d wondered about it ever since the woman had become a regular. 

“I’m an engineer!” Natalie replied, a smile now appearing on her face. “An electrical engineer to be exact. I spend most of my day tinkering away at different devices and things, so my hands are really important.” 

“Wow, that’s really cool,” Renee replied, now looking up to meet the blonde’s gaze. Actually, Renee had never thought of any engineering to be cool, but now it seemed like the most interesting thing in the world to her. “So you work down here then? Near the coffee shop?” 

“Oui, not too far at all. Just a little walk. You’ve probably passed by my storefront before; its got the little dinosaur mascot?” 

“Oh yeah… I have passed by there before.I walk my dog by there all the time.” 

“Really? What dog do you have?” 

“A German Shepherd… She’s a mess,” Renee chuckled.

That made the blonde laugh. Her laughter was loud and sweet, and it was complete music to the barista’s ears. It was perfect. Renee couldn’t help but smile and make her much more sure that this was the girl of her dreams. 

“Hey… What if I bought you dinner? To make up for this?” Renee mumbled almost quietly. She couldn’t believe what she was saying, but now seemed to be her time to take a shot. 

In an instant, Natalie’s eyes lit up and a smile appeared on her face. It was like she hadn’t just cut herself at all. “Oui! Yes, I’d love that!” she replied, all smiles once again. “There’s this perfect place not too far from here. It has the best sandwiches!” 

Renee beamed back at her. 

Yeah, she almost hated her job. Almost.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! I lost momentum halfway through so if it sounds a little whonky, sorry about that!  
> You can find me at my tumblr @giraffe-lesbian!


End file.
